Social Finance Receives $4 Million From Omidyar, Pershing Square

December 14, 2014

, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing investment capital to drive social progress, has announced grants totaling $4 million over three years from and the .

The funding from two of Social Finance's founding supporters will be used to expand the organization’s transaction and advisory teams and accelerate the flow of Pay for Success (PFS) financing in the United States. To that end, the organization expects to close projects in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia over the next eighteen months, and its advisory team is in the process of evaluating PFS opportunities to benefit veterans, first-time mothers, and the long-term unemployed.

Often referred to as social impact bonds, PFS transactions are designed to help governments secure greater resources to address social problems by tapping private investments for the up-front costs of a program while ensuring that taxpayer dollars are only spent on programs that actually work. As interest in the model has grown, so too has demand for experts who can evaluate the model's suitability for various interventions, structure the actual transactions, and manage the performance of the bonds.

"The flexibility of this financial support is critical," said Social Finance co-founder and CEO Tracy Palandjian. "It will allow us not only to strengthen our internal infrastructure but also to pursue high-quality projects, including those that might not otherwise get off the ground due to lack of funding. Our ability to work on high-impact projects in various geographies and issue areas will go a long way toward positioning PFS for long-term success and ultimately helping people in communities across the U.S. gain access to better services."